, which required broadcasters to air both sides of controversial issues.

“The so-called ‘Fairness Doctrine’ would restrict free speech on the public airwaves, stifling dissent at a time when an open national dialogue about our country’s future is essential," said Boehner in an e-mailed statement Tuesday a copy of which was supplied to B&C. "The American people do not believe the federal government should be in the business of dictating or restricting the content of political speech. I’m troubled by Rep. Eshoo’s comments, and my hope is that President-elect Obama will speak out against efforts by members of his party to use their majority power to limit free speech and dissent.”

Boehner was responding to an interview Monday in which Eshoo, a member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee whose chair will be fellow Californian Herny Waxman, told the paper: "I’ll work on bringing it back. I still believe in it,” and adding that she would want it to apply to cable and satellite rather than just radio and TV.

The doctrine, which only applied to broadcasting, was scrapped by the FCC as unconstitutional in 1987. Congress tried to revive it, but President and former broadcaster Ronald Reagan vetoed it once and pledged to a broadcaster in a letter at the time that he would block it again if congress tried to reimpose it.

The doctrine's demise is credited--or blamed, depending on who is citing it--for the rise in conservative talk radio. Hosts including Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin have expressed concerns that the new Democratic regime in Congress will try to reinstate the doctrine as a way to silence their critics.